Anti-drop fitment



an. 27, 1970 s. P. o. SUNDGREN l 3,491,925 ANT I-DROP FITMENT OriginalFiled A ril 8, 1965 l4 5 1 F? T h: l0 l (I I I I m i l H Z "I Fi. .Z

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FIG. 2

INVENTOR STIG PER-OLOF SUNDGREN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,491,925ANTI-DROP FITMENT Stig P. 0. Sundgren, Hognasvagen 1, Lidingo, SwedenContinuation of application Ser. No. 506,687, Nov. 8, 1965. Thisapplication June 19, 1967, Ser. No. 647,259 Int. Cl. B67d 5/00 US. Cl.222571 3 Claims ABSTRACT on THE DISCLOSURE An anti-drop fitment forliquid containers such as bottles and the like is disclosed. Theanti-drop fitment consists of a tubular member having a specificallydesigned upper portion in the form of a collar above a flange whereinthe flange extends around the other surface of the tubular member.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 506,687 filed Apr. 8,1965 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to an anti-drop fitment for liquid containerssuch as bottles and the like. Anti-drop fitments comprising cylindricalor close to cylindrical elements and with a flange element combined withthis cylindrical element are known to the art. Elements of this typehave been provided with flanges having inclined planes so that liquidswill flow over the edge of said inclined plane. The flange will form anangle with the upper surface and usually be less than 90. These priorart elements are usually produced from a plastic material which exhibitswater repelling properties. The plastic material should be reasonablywater repelling and should be formable to such a degree that it can bemolded.

Such an anti-drop fitment as indicated in FIGURE 1 will function wellbut it has been found that drops will form and may move down the outerside of the bottle in which the fitment is applied.

It has been found that the ability of liquids to moisten the plastic israther dependent upon the kind of liquid used. Thus, when pouring aliquid from a bottle with an anti-drop fitment of the above-indicatedkind, said liquid being less prone to form drops, which means that ithas a greater tendency of moistening the plastic, moistening will nottake place at first. Upon pouring repeatedly small quantities from thebottle, drop formation will occur at the edge of the flange at a givennumber of such pouring operations. Such will often be the case as forexample when filling Wine glasses at a dinner table or the like.

Thus in one example, a simple red wine was poured through the anti-dropfitment in quantities of about 1 com. and with a frequency of one suchquantity every three or four seconds. Initially, n0 drops formed outsideof the inner surfaces of the cylindrical part, but after between six toeight pourings a clearly visible drop started forming on the upper sideof the flange, and with continued pouring the drop was quickly enlargeduntil it finally slipped around the outer edge of the flange and downalong the neck of the bottle.

When the bottle is placed in an upright position, this drop will falldown on the support, for example upon a dining droom table and maydamage said table or the table covering.

The moistening of the plastic through repeated pourings is a phenomenonwhich has not been explained, but which causes the drop protectionfitment of the aboveindicated prior art kind to be ineffective uponrepeated pourings.

The present invention relates to an anti-drop fitment, in which theabove-mentioned disadvantages have been eliminated.

According to this invention, the upper part of the antidrop fitmentextends a short distance above the flange so that an angular like grooveis formed between the outer side of said cylindrical element and theupper side of the flange. In tests as for example the one describedabove, it has been proved that there should exist a tendency to form adrop at repeated pourings which is restricted in size to the anglebetween the upper side of the flange and the outer side of thecylindrical element. The drop therefore will not free itself from theangle be tween these two elements. In addition, the drop formed betweenthese two elements will not be enlarged since the size of the drop isrestricted and limited to the distance between the outside of thecylindrical element and the upper side of the flange. Upon repeatedpourings, the liquid will be further restricted in size to the anglebetween the upper side of the flange and outer side of the cylindricaltube. This size will in all cases be insufiicient to release the dropover the side of the flange.

This invention will be further described in connection with the drawingsin which FIGURE 1 is the prior art anti-drop fitment. FIGURE 2 is theanti-drop fitment according to this invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, an anti-drop fitment of the prior art ispresented. In the neck of a bottle 10 the cylindrical part 11 of theanti-drop fitment is inserted, so that tightening will be effectedbetween the cylindrical element 11 and the inner side of the bottle neck10. For this purpose, the anti-drop fitment is made of an elasticallyformable material, preferably a plastic. Further, ovoloformed rings 12are provided on the outer side of, the cylindrical element 11. Thecylindrical element 11 has an opening through which the liquid may bepoured. The flange 13 is provided on the upper side of the anti-dropfitment. This flange is preferably defined on its upper side by a planerunning perpendicularly to the axial direction of the anti-drop fitment,the lower flange 13 outside of the cylindrical element 11, however,being slightly conical, for instance having a point angle at itsperiphery of from between 640. This angle is in no way critical, and maybe essentially greater or less but in all cases is less than Theanti-drop fitment in the prior art will function in the following way:

When a beverage contained in a bottle is poured from said bottle thebeverage will flow through the cylindrical element 11 and over the upperside of the flange 13 but will not move past sharp edge 14 to theconically inclined part 15, due to this unusually sloping element, andalso due to the water repelling properties of the material. When thebottle is again brought back into vertical position a small drop iscollected on the upper side of the flange 13 and can upon subsequentpourings move over the flange edge 14. This collected drop is shown as16 in FIGURE 1. Thus, it seems that the properties of the plastic duringthe pouring operation are changed upon repeated short pourings and theplastic therefore becomes less water repellant and would thus cause thecollection of the drop as indicated at 16, in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, FIGURE 2 shows that anti-drop fitment of thepresent invention. The present invention resides in the provision of atubular member having a specifically designed upper portion in the formof a collar 17 above a flange 13 which flange extends around the outersurface of the tubular member. A lower portion 11 of this tubular memberis adapted to be secured to the opening of a container such as a bottle10 or the like. The collar 17 of this tubular member, in conjunctionwith the flange, provides means to prevent the contents of the containerfrom dripping during or after pouring from the container. The distancewhich the colicelar extends upwardly of the flange is less than thedistance that the flange extends outwardly of the tubular member.

Repeated tests have shown that this specific arrangement is far superiorto that of the prior art devices of the type shown in FIGURE 1.

It has been found that in the initial stages of the pouring operationthe cooperative arrangement of the collar member and the flange causesthe liquid to flow from the upper, pouring edge of the tubular collarover the pouring edge of the flange. Few, if any, drops will be formedduring this part of the pouring operation. As the pouring continues andas the bottle from which the liquid being poured is further tipped fromthe upright position, the liquid will flow over the pouring edge of thetubular collar without contacting the pouring edge of the flange; Anydrops which may have formed on the outside surface of the tubular collarup to this point of the pouring operation will be attached by surfacetension in the angle between the flange upper surface and the tubularcollar, with the drops initially having a convex miniscus surface andgrowing with the addition .of the drops to form a liquid volume having aspherical surface, the upper boundary of this surface is set by theheight of the tubular collar. As the bottle is returned toward theupright position as the pouring stream again flows from the pouring edgeof the tubular collar over the pouring edge of the flange, the liquidstream contacts the drops having a spherical surface which tends togather on the portion of the anti-drop fitment directly beneath thepouring stream and carries a portion of the drops over the outer surfacewith the stream; when the bottle reaches a sub-' stantially uprightposition, any drops remaining in excess of a constant amount determinedby the angle between the flange and the tubular collar are carried backinto the bottle by a combination of liquid surface tension and siphonaction of the returning liquid stream. As the pouring operations arerepeated, any liquid in excess of a constant amount which is retained atthe tubular collar flange intersection is similarly carried .over withthe pouring stream when the latter is in contact with the pouring edgeof the flange, or is returned to the bottle at the end of the pouringoperation; as a result, no drippage over the flange and down the neck ofthe bottle occurred when the bottle is again tilted since the dropsretained in the angle formed by the outer surface of the tubular collarand the upper surface of the pouring flange are of insuflicient mass andvolume to overcome the surface tension effects holding them in thisangle.

A decrease of the angle between the outer surface of the tubular member17 and the upper surface of the flange 13 may take place either byletting the upper surface of the flange 13 be somewhat conicallyinclined or by making the collar slightly in a funnel shape andextending outwardly.

The anti-drop fitment according to the invention does not necessarilyhave to be cylindrical but may have any suitable sectional form.

The anti-drop fitment of thepresent invention can be used in connectionwith bottles, cans, and other containers for liquids as well as otherkinds of containers such as flexible piping nozzles and the like.

This invention has been described in detail with particular reference toFIGURE 2, but it will be understood that variations and modificationscan be effected in the spirit and scope of the invention as describedherein above and as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drip preventing pouring spout for preventing dripping of liquidpoured through the liquid pouring opening of amember comprising a hollowtubular hydrophobic plastic member having inner and outer tubularsurfaces, the interior of said hollow tubular member being large enoughto permit free pouring of liquids therethrough, an imperforatecircumferential pouring flange disposed around and extending a shortdistance outwardly of the outer surface of said tubular memberintermediate the ends of said tubular member, said flange including aplanar upper surface disposed at a angle of substantially 90 withrespect to the longitudinal axis of said tubular member extending abovesaid flange and a lower surface having a portion extending outwardly andupwardly to the outer edge of the upper surface of the flange to form anacute angle with said upper surface at the periphery of said flange toform a sharp pouring edge, the portion of said tubular member above theflange comprising a tubular collar extending upwardly of said upper,planar, flange surface a distance about one-half of the distance thatthe said upper flange surface extends outwardly of the outer surface ofsaid tubular member, the

. outer surface of said collar forming an angle of about 90 with saidupper flange surface, said collar terminating in an upper pouring lip,the spacial relationship of the two said pouring lips, the said flangeand the said collar being such that the liquid poured through the open-1 ing contacts both pouring lips and when the spout is returned to theupright position, excess drops collect at the junction between thecollar and the said upper surface of the flange, the portion of saidtubular member below the flange comprising meansfor securing saidpouring 'spout within the liquid pouring opening of said member.

2. A pouring spout according to claim 1 wherein said tubular member iscylindrical.

3. A pouring spout according to claim 2 wherein said flange and tubularmembers are integral.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,109,720 3/1938 Deschner 215-732,848,145 8/1958 Livingstone 222-542 3,198,393 8/1965 Kitterman 222-109FOREIGN PATENTS 790,378 2/1958 Great Britain.

ROBERT B, REEVES, Primary Examiner

